20 Tips To Make Your Road Trip in Croatia and Italy Epic!

Hi Friends,

I recently returned from a 50-Day Road Trip with my boyfriend, Marko, where we visited Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, San Marino and Vatican City. Our trip involved a bit of preparation and at times some creative problem-solving. We learnt a lot during this trip about travelling in general, travelling as a couple and travelling via car. I thought it would only be fair that I pass on some of this knowledge to others who are considering doing a road trip in this region of the world!

Sunset at Pordoi Pass in The Dolomites.

Budget Tips

I only ever travel on a budget (I live perpetually on a tight budget, actually) because it allows me to travel for longer and every now and then I can splurge on a special experience without any guilt or worry.

Here are some tips to help you to reduce your spending while driving around Italy and Croatia:

1. Use toll roads sparingly (especially in Croatia!)

Taking tolls regularly is the fastest way to drain your bank account of money that would be better spent on pasta or burek. Using a toll road doesn’t always save you a huge amount of time, so I highly recommend checking the estimated difference in travel time on Google Maps before choosing whether to take the toll or not. Croatian tolls tend to be a lot more expensive than Italian ones, so approach those ones with care.

2. Shop around for petrol and diesel

This mainly applies to Italy where we found crazy price differences between cities/towns/regions and even on the same stretch of road. When you come across a good price please do yourself a favour and fill up all the way because it is unpredictable what you may come across. If you are passing through Croatia, Slovenia or San Marino, make an effort to check out the prices because they can be substantially cheaper, fill up while you have the chance.

Warning: Be wary of self-service petrol stations in Italy as their cash machines don’t always work and if you aren’t semi-fluent in Italian this could be a huge problem. On one occasion, a machine sucked in our 50 Euro note without giving us diesel, we eventually solved the problem – solely because Marko can read Italian.

3. Camp in your car

Now, this might seem like an out-there suggestion, it took Marko and I a while to get comfortable with the idea but after our first attempt, we were pretty pleased with the outcome. We were happy with the free accommodation which was sometimes even more comfortable than the bed in the accommodation we paid for. Buy yourself a sleeping bag, a pillow, have some toilet paper available and drinking water. Don’t forget to wind the window down a little bit for some air.

We found this very easy to do in Croatia where we slept with an ocean view one night. In Italy, we had to search a little harder for a spot to park but it wasn’t impossible by any means. I wouldn’t recommend trying this in a big city or around a popular tourist destination. It is a lot easier to do this in the countryside, which is perfect for road tripping.

4. Spend the night between bigger cities when possible

In general, it can save you a lot of money if you opt to stay in accommodation in the countryside instead of the city when possible. Try to avoid backtracking if you do this. We found that we had more authentic cultural experiences by staying in places that were untouched mass tourism and that the local people were actually excited to see us! We even managed to stay in a part of an Italian medieval castle in a really charming village for only $35AUD per night.

5. Bring some cutlery and an esky (icebox)

Dining out and even buying takeaway can add up but if you have a few items of cutlery to help you prepare and eat your food you can save a fortune. As a result of our planning, we were covered for breakfast and snacks and didn’t waste our food and saved a lot of money.

Marko tasting some fresh pecorino which we were able to keep cool in our esky (icebox).

We carried:

A metal set of cutlery and some disposable spoons and forks for when we didn’t have the chance to clean our cutlery. This allowed us to eat yoghurt and cut up some snacks.

A hard plastic container to store dried fruit and nuts and an additional one to store leftover food that we cooked.

A blue esky or icebox, where we kept perishable food while on the road.

Legal Considerations

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer so this isn’t official legal advice but I do have some tips that you might want to consider or research yourself so that you don’t break the law while driving around foreign lands.

6. Carry the right documents

The documents that you will require to carry with you will depend on your passport. Everyone is required to carry their passport (with the exception of residents) and if they are driving, their drivers license, of course.

European passport holders don’t typically need to hold any additional paperwork to drive – you may wish to confirm this for yourself. Whereas Australian drivers, for example, require an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) for Croatia and either an IDP or an official translation of your driver’s license for Italy. This information comes from an official Australian government website, ‘Smart Traveller‘, this website is a really good resource in general, I highly recommend you check this out. You can purchase an IDP from RACV for $39AUD, for more information click on this link.

7. Carry the right equipment

Throughout the EU, regulations require that you carry a high visibility vest which must be reachable inside the car by the driver, a reflective triangle and a first aid kit. The police can fine you if you do not have these things in your car. If you are driving in snowy conditions you are also required by law to carry snow chains.

8. Make sure you are insured to drive and that your travel insurance helps you with medical costs in the event of an accident

You don’t want to end up in an international legal battle in the event that you are in a car accident and if you need medical care, the last thing you want to think about is the costs. I recommend checking out my blog post on choosing travel insurance if this is something you need to look into.

Sunset in Maslenica, Croatia.

9. Always drive with low beam headlights on

You should always drive with low beam headlights on or LED running lights, this is another EU requirement and you can get fined for not abiding by this law.

Car Care – For Those Driving Their Own Car

Some of this is common sense but when you are preparing for a big trip some of these things may slip your mind.

10. Do car maintenance before and don’t skimp on essential repairs

11. Learn how to do the basics to look after your car

You should know how to change a tire, top up your car fluids (coolant, windscreen fluid etc.) and how to jump-start your car.

We did some cheeky urbex in Italy… 😉

12. Carry jumper cables, a spare key and a torch.

Keep your spare key on your person just in case, this would have saved us a world of trouble.

Navigation

We had Google Maps direct us down one-way streets multiple times and it even led us on an unplanned off-roading mini-adventure. It is very fortunate that nothing bad happened to us because of this. So please be aware that Google Maps is not always accurate, especially in Italy.

Gran Turismo – Where to go for unforgettable drives

Italy may seem like an ideal place for a road trip and I would that say it is but only because of its beautiful destinations. The journey itself can be very chaotic. Whereas, in my opinion, Croatia is a lot more suitable for a hassle-free road trip. I will elaborate further on this below.

Primosten in Croatia is one of the many coastal towns that stole our hearts.

Firstly, we found our driving experiences to overall be easier and smoother in Croatia because we NEVER came across bad roads. Whereas in Italy we came across a lot of very bad roads, full of potholes. In Italy, road closures aren’t updated on Google Maps and there are no signs to redirect you when you get to the closure. We had some rough travel days due to these unexpected road closures, we wasted our time and money.

Secondly, If you are wanting to have a road trip where you are treated with awe-inspiring coastal views you will be very disappointed in some parts of Italy. We often found it impossible to drive with a good coastal view and were horrified by the east coast (from after Venice until Gargano). In Croatia, we had crazy views all the way and drove so close to the ocean at times that we could see the waves crashing! The sunsets were amazing to watch while driving along this coastline.

So overall, Croatia was better for Gran Turismo – followed by San Marino and then Italy.

14. Top places for driving in Italy

The Dolomites

The Dolomites in our opinion is the best place to drive in Italy and this was confirmed by the fact that next year car models are frequently test-driven here! You can identify these cars by a distinctive wrap that imitates a smoke pattern, hiding details of the car. The well-surfaced roads make driving pretty breezy, you have to take it slow around the mountain passes but it is impossible to complain with the kind of views you get.

Most of this National Park is incredible for driving, the diverse landscapes and architecture provide you with endless eye candy. We must note that Forest Umbra isn’t great for driving. It is an undoubtedly magical place but the roads are very poorly maintained, so the drive itself isn’t super enjoyable.

Gargano National Park is home to diverse landscapes, including beautiful beaches.

Tuscany

Tuscany leaves you feeling like you are driving dreamily off into the sunset, all the time. The roads are mostly straight and you can often get panoramic views of old villages. The rolling green hills never get tiring!

Montalcino at sunset.

Amalfi Coast

Amalfi is one of Italy’s most iconic stretches of coastlines for a very good reason. The road is well-cared for and the views are to die for! We must note though, traffic on this road can get crazy. For the driver, it can be difficult to take in the views because the traffic consumes your attention. There are lots of buses on this road that have to overturn to get around the roads which can be a little bit intimidating. Once you see the views with your own eyes you probably won’t mind the chaos so much.

The Amalfi Coast has unparalleled vistas. The drive itself can be chaotic but it is definitely worth the trouble.

15. Places to avoid driving in Italy

Cinque Terre

I beg you not to even dream of attempting this! You need to visit the towns either by train which passes by the water and looks pretty cool or by doing a hike. It is not worth attempting to do by car. The roads are extremely narrow, there isn’t a lot of parking and the parking that exists is super overpriced. These small fishing villages have been heavily hit by mass tourism and some may argue that it isn’t worth visiting anymore because with the influx of crowds the charm is disappearing.

Manarola from afar.

City centres in big cities

Big cities like Rome and Florence can be absolute chaos to drive in, there are a lot of one-way roads and confusing signs. You are better off commuting into them by train or bus to save yourself the trouble. It is also very hard to find parking in cities and it can be quite expensive.

16. Top places for driving in Croatia

The entire coastline

Driving along the Croatian coastline was one of our trip highlights. The drive is smooth and the abundant stunning views of the seaside, the mountains and towns keep you entertained for hours. If you are interested in seeing 50 shades of blue in the sea, you will love this drive!

The landscapes in Croatia will keep your entertained through hours of driving.

Opatija

Opatija is a coastal town full of opulent Habsburg-era villas, it was formerly a luxurious vacation hot spot for the Austro-Hungarian elite. It is worth driving through or visiting, simply just to marvel at the grand architecture.

Random Tips

17. Be aware that Italians drive very differently depending on the region

When arriving in some newer regions of Italy we were shocked by how rude some drivers were until we realised that is simply how they drive in the area. For example, we found that cutting off other drivers in Naples was pretty standard and isn’t frowned upon.

A small town in Naples.

18. Head to McDonald’s for cheap coffee and reliable internet

As I mentioned in my last blog post – about shocking and surprising things we came across in Italy, the WiFi is generally very unreliable. The only place we found with reliable WiFi was McDonald’s, so we stopped there quite a lot. A coffee and a pastry combined are around 2 Euros, plus you get functioning WiFi and a clean bathroom. I highly recommend stopping there when you are doing a long road trip.

19. Buy your own data especially if you are travelling for a long time

This mostly applies to Italy. One of my regrets on our road trip was not buying data. I have travelled without data before and wrongly assumed that I could easily do this again in Italy. It is handy when you can actually contact your hosts with ease to let them know you are running late or get help if you are lost.

Having these supplies at hand will ensure that if you accidentally spill food or a drink or get dirty that you can quickly and easily clean up with no problems at all.

Catching the sunset on a beach in Gargano National Park.

Do you have any tips to share?

I hope you took away something helpful or interesting from this blog post for your future travels. If you have any tips to share for road tripping in Italy and/or Croatia I would love to read them down below :)!

Special thanks to Marko for sharing his knowledge and photographic contributions in this blog post.

Comments

To ask an impossible question (sorry!) I was hoping you could impart some of your wisdom to help me decide a travel destination for 2019.

My husband and I want to pick 1 country to spend say 3-4 weeks in, ideally driving around. We don’t want to do too many places, IE ideally staying a couple of days in most places and not driving too much. We love good food, architecture, authentic sights, culture, history, shopping (niche shopping for like art, homewares, novel cooking supplies). We hate tourist traps, shitty food, being bored.

We did a month in France this year and LOVED it, we went to Paris (3 nights), then drove to Dijon (3 nights), Annecy (2 nights – after seeing your post about it <3), Avignon (1 night), Montpellier (2 nights), Sete (drive through), Figeac (one week – a family friend owns a house there), Tours (1 night), back to Paris (4 nights)…. This itinerary was perfect for us, we felt it was the right mix of being active, not too much driving and the places were sufficiently diverse and interesting.

So my long winded question is: what would you recommend? 3-4 weeks driving through Italy OR Spain and potentially Portugal, OR Croatia? (If you had to pick!) I note your comments about driving through Italy being a bit hairy- if we picked Italy, do you think we would be better off training instead (NB: we love driving due to it being so easy and relaxing… I find running to train stations, being on time, having carefully structured plans unnecessary stress on a holiday!)

Firstly, congratulations on your marriage :)! Your road trip in France sounds like it was really amazing. That is a really tough question because they are all amazing destinations, I visited all of them this year. I might be a bit biased because I spent the most time in Italy and Croatia btw.

Given you and your husbands preferences, especially the preference to drive (which I totally understand), I highly recommend Croatia. Croatia has an abundance of diverse locations to visit and it is very easy to drive around. Compared to Italy and Spain, Croatia is a lot smaller, so it is easier to see a lot of it in 3-4 weeks, without rushing around too much.

It has cities that are world renowned for their architecture and well-preserved historical sites such as Dubrovnik and Split (https://snoozeandexplore.com/2018/05/18/sleeping-in-an-ancient-roman-palace-and-celebrating-at-the-biggest-festival-in-split/). Both these places can get crazy with tourists, partially because of the popularity of Game of Thrones (which was filmed in both these cities) and partially because of the hordes of cruise ships that arrive at these places. They are very much still worth visiting. For these places I would recommend trying to sight-see as early as possible in the day and in the evening (after the cruise ship visitors get back on their boats). This way you can enjoy these places without them being so hectic.

Croatia also has cosmopolitan, more low-key (less touristic) cities like Zagreb and Rijeka.

One of my favourite parts about Croatia is that if you drive along the coast you will inevitably come across adorable, small coastal villages and towns. You can also drive with a sea view, crazily close to sea which is really epic. We weren’t able to do this in Italy. Some of my favourite small towns/villages were Omis, Primosten and Opatija. In the North, we came across quite a few really cool, elevated medieval towns that weren’t touristic at all, like Labin.

And of course, there are the Croatian Islands. Some of which have a nice combination of natural wonders, historical sites and architecture. You can reach them by car ferry which is normally quite cheap. My favourite island was Korcula (https://snoozeandexplore.com/2018/06/04/relaxing-on-a-picturesque-sleepy-island-korcula/). My boyfriend, Marko says that all of the islands are worth visiting (he is Montenegrin). Some are a bit more party orientated though, like Hvar. I was told by a local not to visit there in Summer because it is too crazy.

As a whole, Croatia ticks most of your boxes except generally, it isn’t great for shopping. It is amazing for food if you like meat-heavy cuisine and seafood. I personally really like the cakes in this region of the world too. For authentic cuisine, you can eat at a Konoba (tavern).

You may also want to consider doing a road trip in the south of Italy. We didn’t see as much as we would’ve liked there but we ended up spending nearly 3 weeks in Gargano National Park (https://snoozeandexplore.com/2018/11/05/gargano-national-park/). This was one of our biggest highlights of our trip, we feel like we had a really authentic experience. We tasted excellent local cuisine. The landscapes are incredibly diverse and the towns are some of the most charming that I have ever seen. To me, it was like the Italian Great Ocean Road. Puglia is an amazing region of Italy and further, south it looks really beautiful too. We found that local people were A LOT friendlier and happy to have us visiting compared to further north in Italy. Comparatively, it was like being in a different country, just based on the warmth of people.

If you want to see a lot of Italy in a large road trip, it can be quite hectic for the reasons I mentioned in this post and in a previous post (https://snoozeandexplore.com/2018/11/19/17-shocking-and-surprising-things-i-encountered-in-italy/). I feel like undertaking a road trip like this in 3-4 weeks could be a little ambitious due to the sheer amount of Italian destinations worth of seeing.
Portugal is a wonderful place, its landscapes can be quite similar to ones in Victoria. I can’t really comment about road tripping there or in Spain because I only took the bus around there. Spain is deceivingly big, that is all I can say.

I hope this helped you, apologies for my essay. If you have any further questions feel free to ask.

Trackbacks

[…] By car is definitely the easiest way to get around The Dolomites, if you love to drive this is the place for you! Stelvio Pass, in particular, is unmissable for motoring enthusiasts. For more specific tips and insights on road tripping in Italy, check out my blog post here. […]

Hi, my name is Mikki! I travel slowly and on a budget, in search of authentic cultural experiences, hidden gems and epic natural wonders. Travelling slowly allows me to bring you well-informed advice, along with a plethora of personal tales and travel photography. I hope to inspire you to choose your own adventure, not a cookie cutter one!